Spotlight: DeJuan Blair

The second round has been good to the San Antonio Spurs. In 1999 the Spurs drafted an unknown Argentinian with the 57th pick in the second round. You could say the rest is history.

It seems that a decade later the Spurs have done it again. Taken with the 37th pick of the 2009 draft, DeJuan Blair came to San Antonio with no ACLs and high expectations, and so far the 20-year-old Pittsburgh native has not disappointed.

In his first pre-season game, Blair finished with 16 points and a ridiculous 19 boards against the Houston Rockets. Granted, it was only preseason, but in his first professional game, and probably with butterflies in his stomach, Blair showed his God given ability for rebounding. And as we Spurs fans know, it takes defense and rebounding to win championships.

Blair kicked off his first professional season with a bang, and his first ever double-double, scoring 14 points on 7 of 10 from the field. My math could be a little off, but I’m pretty sure that’s 70 percent from the field. He also finished with 11 rebounds. Not bad for a forward listed at 6′-7″.

The Spurs have played 51 games so far this season, and Blair has played in every one. He’s also started in 20 games this season averaging 8 points and 7.9 rebounds in those twenty games, which extremly consistent considering his season averages are 7.5 points and and 6.4 boards. One could argue that he is more productive as a starter then as a bench player.

But when it comes to Blair, production is not a question. He is ranked first in offensive rebounds per 48 minutes with 6.3 and eleventh in the league in defensive rebounds per 48 minutes with 10.7. Overall, Blair’s 16.9 rebounds per 48 minutes is good for fifth best in the league. For an undersized forward who apparently has no knees, Blair collects rebounds like Meryl Streep collects Oscar nominations.

However, Blair has had his share of rookie woes. On February 6 against the Clippers, Blair shot 28 percent from the field, going two for seven from the floor. In a January loss to the Bulls, he went four for 13 shooting a dismal 30 percent in 30 minutes of play. But for every lackluster performance, Blair usually rebounds with a great game, literally. After only scoring two points in his start against the Lakers, Blair had 28 points, 21 rebounds and two blocked shots against the playoff hopeful Thunder. Not to mention he does committ silly fouls which gets him into early foul trouble but that’s expected from a rookie.